JHL Team Histories
by hockeyxanime
Summary: This is an idea I have had for years, a fictional anime hockey league in Japan, called the JHL. I will put up different teams and try to update as often as I can. Please Rate and Review for more teams, feedback is always welcome.


Authors note: This was inspired by my love for AHL/NHL Hockey. where I wanted to create a Anime-inspired Hockey League based in Modern Japan. The League has currently 18 teams and I am working on history for all of them. The history will including  
Venue- Where the play and the history of the venue  
Team History- Self-explanatory  
Uniform History- the history of team uniforms

PLease rate and review, I will take all criticism(be nice) and reme er thsi si a fictional league, so just read and enjoy.  
First up: The Osaka Bears

Osaka Bears

Osaka Bears (Osajo-yo Dome)

Other names: Osaka Bay-bears, Osaka Whale, Osaka Tigers

Founded: 1951

Team Colors: Gold, Black, White

Emperor's Cup: 8 (1951, 56, 68, 81, 87-89, 98)

Venue: Osajo-yo Dome is considered a modern dump, when compared to other venues in the JHL. Seating just shy of 38,000, the OD is used for other events and has had a few problems over the decades: The seats are jammed together in the lower bowl and a construction flaw lead to uneven seating and indoor pillars in the upper bowl, thus block view for fans and scouts. This lead to bad TV presentation and MANY complaints followed by ticket losses. Osaka management didn't add suites til 1994 claiming they wanted everyone to sit together. Sound bounces off the walls like a rubber room and yet fades in certain areas, the ceiling seats and small video board lead to unpleasant game days, Press boxes are stuffed in the upper regions and are a exercise to get to because elevators stopped service a few floors before the boxes, locker rooms are sub par (Both home and visitors), even losing hot water during January. In 2010, the Dome finally got renovated (It was the last of the original Seven to get upgrades) much to the shigrin of the JHL and its fan-base. There are the 1st Emporer's Cup Champions and they make sure every one knows, since it is engraved in the arena entrances; and the big 1951 Cup banner hanging in the rafters; along with there 7 others banners and "The Team of the 80s" banner too.

The Osaka bears are a "Bullied" franchise of the JHL, but they won the first ever Emperor's Cup in 1951 and they are more then happy to tell you that. Osaka won its first cup in 1951 and has been wildly incontinent the following decades, winning 3 more in 30 years. Originally know as the Bay-Bears cause there Dome was next to a bay in downtown Osaka, fans quickly supported there team. The Bears have always played a tough, fore-checking, back checking defensive style of hockey leading to close games and lots of penalty minutes. Osaka has stubbornly refused to adopt to the changing styles of the JHL, which is why they always struggled to establish themselves as a dynasty until the 1980s. During the 80s, the JHL fell out of the public approval and was not very profitable with teams moving, re-branding and making new jerseys. Osaka took advantage of this time and some how won 4 cups in the 80s including three in a row! Osaka quickly dubbed themselves the "Team of the 80s!" though since the league was down that decade, its not considered a great feat like: Titans in the 60, WolfPack of the 70, Sabres of the 90 and The Strikers of the mid-2000s.

Some how the Bay-Bears won a Emporers Cup during the Bioshin Era in 1998 but most of the league considering that Cup a fluke since they beat Nagoya and not Sendai or Toyko. Since then the Bears have not sniffed the Jhl Finals, they have only made the playoffs 7 times since the turn of the millennium and the semi-finals once in 2006 (Swept by Sapporo.)

The Bears have been through many re-branding and jersey changes from the The Whale in the 70s (1970-1977) to the brief run as the Tigers (1990-1993) These decisions have done more harm then good to the franchise already laced with bad choices. However, Osaka still plays hockey like the old days, and that has been the one constant thing about this franchise.  
Osaka has earned a bad reputation for a dump arena and creating "Low Hockey IQ Players." Most draft picks from Osaka regions or districts are checkers or fighters: which has lead to the punchline when a player is too aggressive on the ice.  
"Hey calm down, this isn't Osaka!  
"Where did you learn to play hockey...Osaka?"  
"He looks like a Osaka Player"

Jerseys: Osaka has had a colorful jersey history, with name changes and uniform tweaks. They were not a Two-Tone team like other Original 7 teams. They were black, gold and white, they decided on those colors since Osaka was and still is a industrious city.

However in 1970, the Bay-Bears announced a makeover of the franchise, inspired by a North American Hockey team they were re-branded as the Osaka Whale. The black, gold and white were ditched for Ocean Blue and Keel Green with an anime whale has a new mascot. The change was harshly criticized by fans and a commercial failure by investors; which lead to the return of the Bay-Bears in 1977; fans rarely speak of those seven years. The Bay-Bears returned with a vengeance in the 80s with there cup runs. During there All-Star Festival in 1990 (which was a surprising success) the team announced another re-branding, still skeptical from the last one; they used the same name as the local Japan Baseball team and were the Osaka Tigers. The regular colors were scrapped again for Blue, Orange and White, this time the jerseys were a moderate success and were selling well until a lawsuit from the baseball, forced the Tigers to return to the bay-Bears in 1994. During the 50th anniversary season, once again the Bay-bears would be re-branding; the fan base was voiced its protest and disdain for any change that was coming. In 2004, the Bay-Bears dropped the "Bay" were known as The Osaka Bears. They wore black jerseys with gold numbers with a white trim; the black jerseys had a gold nameplate and the road white had a black nameplate with a gold jerseys to be worn on Home Saturday Night games. It took fifty years, but Osaka finally found its jerseys and have no future plans to re-brand.


End file.
